In this condition was the Isle del Moro when it was spoken of to Father Xavier; and for this very reason, he determined to go, and preach the gospel there, after he had stayed for three months at Ternate.  When his design was known, all possible endeavours were used to break it.  His friends were not wanting to inform him, that the country was as hideous as it was barren:  That it seemed accursed by nature, and a more fitting habitation for beasts than men:  That the air was so gross, and so unwholesome, that strangers could not live in the country:  That the mountains continually vomited flakes of fire and ashes, and that the ground itself was subject to terrible and frequent earthquakes.  And besides, it was told him, that the people of the country surpassed in cruelty and faithlessness all the barbarians of the world:  That Christianity had not softened their manners; that they poisoned one another; that they fed themselves with human flesh; and that, when any of their relations happened to die, they cut off his hands and feet, of which they made a delicate ragou:  That their inhumanity extended so far, that when they designed a sumptuous feast, they begged some of their friends to lend them an old unprofitable father, to be served up to the entertainment of their guests, with promise to repay them, in kind, on the like occasion.

The Portuguese and Indians, who loved Xavier, added, that since those savages spared not their own countrymen and their parents, what would they not do to a stranger, and an unknown person?  That they were first to be transformed into men, before they could be made Christians.  And how could he imprint the principles of the divine law into their hearts, who had not the least sense of humanity?  Who should be his guide through those thick entangled forests, where the greatest part of them were lodged like so many wild beasts; and when, by rare fortune, he should atchieve the taming of them, and even convert them, how long would that conversion last? at the longest, but while he continued with them:  That no man would venture to succeed him in his apostleship to those parts, for that was only to be exposed to a certain death; and that the blood of Simon Vaz was yet steaming.  To conclude, there were many other isles, which had never heard of Jesus Christ, and who were better disposed to receive the gospel.

These reasons were accompanied with prayers and tears; but they were to no purpose, and Xavier was stedfast to his resolution.  His friends perceiving they could gain nothing upon him by intreaties, had recourse, in some measure, to constraint; so far as to obtain from the governor of Ternate a decree, forbidding, on severe penalties, any vessel to carry the Father to the Isle del Moro.